It wasn’t exactly an uneventful May for Tasman Nankervis. First, he took the UCI Gravel World Series win in Nannup Western Australia, even after having to track down his missing bike on race eve. Then, it was a close sprint at the Australian Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships to take the runner-up spot before the next day flying out for his first gravel race in the United States.
June is set to be even more laden with action for the 27-year-old Australian, particularly given that first race US race is Unbound Gravel 200.
That means 205 miles, or 330km, of gravel roads with a top-notch field packed with the gravel specialists from the US, international challengers and a host of riders from other disciplines that have been drawn to the prestigious gravel race in the Flint Hills of Kansas.
“It’s the roughest first race and the biggest unknown,” Nankervis (BMC-Shimano) told Cyclingnews before flying out from Australia.
“I mean I’ve done a lot of endurance training the last month, increasing that in volume, but I don’t think anyone, unless you’ve done Unbound before, can know how the body will really react after 9 to 10 hours of racing. You know, I can do 9 to 10 hours of riding, but to race it, it’s going to be a different challenge. Fueling [and] pacing are just going to be so important. And luck, as well by the sounds of it.”
But Unbound is just the beginning.
Nankervis is among the 70 riders – 35 men and 35 women – that have been selected to race the Life Time Grand Prix series, which delivers seven rounds of racing in the US and a $250,000 prize purse. It is an opportunity to make a mark in the gravel world, a type of racing which seems ideal for the multi-discipline rider from Bendigo.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m just jack of all trades, master of none but gravel seems to really suit me,” said Nankervis. And so does the series mix of long mountain bike events and gravel racing under the one banner.
“I’ve got that mountain bike and road racing background and these are kind of even the dream events, these long mountain bike marathons and gravel races and they’ve got big atmospheres. There is good prize money for the series if you do well and then the opportunities are just so much bigger in the US.”
That could potentially mean, if all goes to plan, that in the future he may not have to dig as deeply into his own pocket to make the trip to North America. Nankervis said he is fortunate to have all his equipment covered by his…
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